Immeuble
Monument
Immeuble, located in Arras (Pas-de-Calais), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Arras, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.2924, 2.7798
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00108027
In the heart of Arras, this building, listed as a Historic Monument since 1920, epitomises Flemish architectural genius: baroque facades in white sandstone, stepped gables and the arcades of the Grand-Place, a unique jewel in the North of France.
History
Arras is a town that has reinvented itself after every ordeal, and its listed buildings are the most eloquent proof of this. This one, protected by decree since 8 January 1920 - one of the very first waves of listed buildings in the aftermath of the Great War - belongs to this exceptional corpus of buildings that give the city of Arras its unmistakeable silhouette. Its facades are a stylistic continuation of the Grand-Place and Place des Héros, two Flemish Baroque ensembles whose architectural unity is unique in France. What really sets this building apart is that it belongs to a building tradition that combines the bourgeois commercial pragmatism of the North with the decorative refinement of the Spanish Netherlands. The stepped gables, superimposed pilasters, elaborate dormers and arcades on the ground floor are not mere ornamentation: they bear witness to a prosperous merchant society that, from the 17th century onwards, wanted to assert its success in local stone and sandstone. To visit this building is first to contemplate it from the square, looking up to take in the verticality of the floors and the fantasy of the sculpted decorations that run along the façade. The soft, changing northern light reveals new details every hour of the day: a forgotten mascaron, a projecting cornice, a half-faded inscription. It also means soaking up the unique atmosphere of Arras, a city of markets and memories. The setting is the historic centre of Arras, set in a dense urban fabric where each façade interacts with its neighbours to form a coherent, immersive architectural landscape. The proximity of the cathedral, the belfries and the town's medieval underground passages all add to the overall cultural experience, making this visit as much a journey through time as an architectural stroll.
Architecture
The building is in the Flemish Baroque style typical of the squares of Arras, whose architectural unity is recognised throughout France. The multi-storey facade features the vertical composition typical of this style: a ground floor with lowered arcades allowing pedestrians to pass under cover, upper storeys punctuated by superimposed Corinthian or composite pilasters, and a stepped gable or curved pediment crown, depending on the variants specific to each plot. The materials used are local white sandstone, extracted from quarries in the Artois region, and brick, used as infill or bedrock depending on the phase of construction and restoration. The sculpted elements - modillion cornices, elaborate keystones, mascarons, garlands and cartouches - give the façade a plastic richness that contrasts with the sobriety of the volumes. Period joinery and ironwork, where preserved or faithfully restored, complete this Dutch-inspired decorative vocabulary. The interior layout, in keeping with the custom of an Artesian merchant's house, combined trade and craft areas on the ground floor, opening onto the square, with staff flats on the upper floors, served by a spiral staircase or a straight flight of stairs. The vaulted cellar, typical of buildings in Arras, provided valuable storage space in a town where the local economy was based on the food and textile trade.
Related Figures
Les maîtres d'œuvre flamands et artésiens du XVIIe siècle, bâtisseurs anonymes des grandes places d'ArrasLes marchands drapiers des corporations arrageoises, commanditaires des façades baroquesMaximilien de Robespierre, natif d'Arras, dont la vie se déroula dans ce tissu urbain baroqueLes Architectes en Chef des Monuments Historiques chargés de la reconstruction après 1918Les membres de la Commission des Monuments Historiques ayant instruit le classement de 1920
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Immeuble located?
Immeuble is located in Arras, Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Immeuble built?
Immeuble dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Immeuble open to visitors?
Immeuble is currently closed to visitors.